Joanne managed to free herself and phoned her mother, upset and in tears, while Gruar took a bottle of vodka and some Coke from the kitchen and left the house.

Police were called and Joanne was examined by a doctor who found she had bruising and swelling around her right eye and three separate bite marks.

Miss Brown, who handed photographs of Joanne's injuries to presiding Sheriff Craig Caldwell, said: "You will see there was one particularly significant area of bruising on her arm that was caused by a bite."

Gruar was arrested a few days later and told police: "She's attacked me with a Hoover before but on Sunday she wound me up too far and I lost it."

The thug pleaded guilty today on the morning he was due to face a trial.

He also admitted breach of bail, and failing, on another occasion, to give his name and address to police when requested.

Gordon Murphy, defending, said: "Actually he is not particularly interested in football and he had gone for a lie down midway through the second half. When he went back into the living room she seemed rather displeased that he had left her to drink on her own while she was watching the game.